Rylands v Fletcher

Question 1

Rylands v Fletcher

Answer 1

-type of nuisance, developed to deal with specific issues relating to pollution
-strict liability
-damage to property is compensated but not personal injury

Question 2

Rylands v Fletcher 1868

Answer 2

‘if a person brings, or accumulates, on his land anything which, if it should escape, may cause damage to his neighbour, he does so at his peril, if it does escape, and cause damage, he is responsible, however careful he may have been’ -Lord Cairns

Question 3

Definition

Answer 3

A person who brings onto their land and keeps there a dangerous thing in the course of a non-natural use of land is strictly liable for any damage caused by its escape.

Question 4

In order to establish liability, C must prove on the balance of probabilities:

Answer 4

-they have a right to bring action and the person they are suing is capable of being the D (parties)
-D brought onto their land and kept there (accumulation)
-a dangerous thing
-in extraordinary and unusual circumstances (non-natural use)
-the thing escaped onto adjoining property
-caused reasonably foreseeable damage

Question 5

Parties

Answer 5

Claimant - must have a legal interest in the land to pursue a claim - Transco v Stockport 2004
Defendant - control over the land on which the dangerous thing is stored - Rylands v Fletcher 1868

Question 6

D brings onto the land

Answer 6

must be a bringing onto the land of a substance by D - no liability if the thing in question is already naturally present on the land or if it accumulates naturally - Giles v Walker 1890

Question 7

Dangerous thing

Answer 7

Likely to do damage if it escapes, also including things not inherently dangerous, water, provided it poses an exceptional risk if it escapes
-Hale v Jennings 1938

Question 8

Damage by fire

Answer 8

Does not usually give rise to liabilty, it must be the thing which fuels the fire which escapes and is dangerous rather than the fire itself - Stannard v Gore 2012
Liability may arise if the material stored poses a known fire risk - LMS International v Styrene 2005

Question 9

Non -natural use

Answer 9

depends on time and place, D’s use of the land must be extraordinary and unusual - Transco v Stockport 2004

Question 10

Rickards v Lothian 1913

Answer 10

Non-natural use was defined as: ‘some special use bringing with it increased danger to others and must not merely be the ordinary use of the land’

Question 11

Cambridge Water v Eastern Counties Leather 1994

Answer 11

Certain activities may always lead to a potential level of danger, amounting to a non-natural use of land whatever the benefit to the public, bulk storage of chemicals was a non-natural use

Question 12

Escape

Answer 12

There must be an escape from land that D controls to land that he or she does not control
-Rylands v Fletcher 1868
-Read v Lyons 1947

Question 13

Damage

Answer 13

The escaping thing must cause reasonably foreseeable damage to adjoining land
-Cambridge Water v Eastern Counties Leather 1994

Question 14

Defences to Rylands

Answer 14

-Act of a stranger
-Act of God
-Statutory Authority
-Consent
-Contributory negligence

Question 15

Act of a stranger

Answer 15

D is not liable if the escape is caused by the deliberate and unforeseen act of a stranger
-Perry v Kendricks 1956

Question 16

Act of God

Answer 16

A natural event so enormous that is cannot be either foreseen or guarded against
-Nichols v Marsland 1876

Question 17

Statutory Authority

Answer 17

D is not liable if the escape occurs during activities authorised by an Act of Parliament
-Green v Chelsea Waterworks 1894

Question 18

Consent

Answer 18

No liability where C has consented to the thing that is accumulated by D
-Peters v Prince of Wales Theatre 1943

Question 19

Contributory negligence

Answer 19

Where C is partly responsible for the escape of the thing, damages may be reduced according to the extent of C’s fault